Old Covenant VS New Covenant

Old Covenant vs New Covenant

The old covenant was given to God’s people in Exodus Chapters 19-20, although there are other books and chapters in the old testament where that covenant (laws) are discussed. The new covenant is given in Hebrews 10:1-4, and 11-18 even though it is a reference to Jeremiah 31:31-34.

In this new covenant, God said, Israel will be restored, sins will be finally forgiven, people will know God directly, and they will have His laws written on their hearts so that they will want to obey Him! Both the old covenant and the new covenant was given to God’s people Israel and both include obedience to the laws of God. Never in scripture does it say that the old covenant was given to Jews and the new covenant was given to Christians! The new testament informs us in Romans 11:11-31 that the gentiles are grafted into Israel. Replacement theology is one of the most misinformed and dangerous theologies taught today. (For a later discussion: Is there a difference between the church and Israel)

The mediator of both covenants is Jesus Christ himself as it was Jesus who said “no one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known (John 1:18). John 1:1-2 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” So, it was Jesus who made known to Moses what God expected of His people in the old covenant. Yeshua is the God of both the Old and New Testaments.

The New Covenant sacrifice of Jesus on behalf of His people means that sins can be forgiven once and for all. We know this because it is stated several places in the new testament, also that the old priestly sacrificial system is no longer needed. Although sacrifices (not in the form of killing animals) are still required on a daily basis, except now, we don’t need a high priest to go in for us, we can go directly to the throne.

Jesus shatters any absolute dissociation of commandments and love. He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. . . . Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father” (John 14:15, 21). “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10). Thinking in terms of commandments and obedience did not stop Jesus from enjoying the love of his Father, and he expects that our thinking of him as one who commands will not jeopardize our love relationship with him either. It is not Law or Grace, rather it is Law AND Grace!

Don’t think you have no rules and regulations to follow under the New Covenant. God is not OK with deliberate, practiced sin. In fact, even under the Old Covenant, there was no atonement for deliberate sin. You will receive the promises of God if you have faith and obedience. Why? Because faith without works is dead. Yes, a dead faith is worst than no faith at all.

We have already been warned that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (Romans 1:24-32).

I Corinthians 6:9 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]homosexuals, nor [b]sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Don’t worry, no one is judging you except God. He is our judge!

The law under the Old Covenant was never a means to salvation. It took Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to manage that, but the law still abides (Romans 3:31)” Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12).

Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:17-19, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Look out your window. . . . have Heaven and Earth disappeared? Don’t let anyone tell you that Christians are not under the law! As this is in direct opposition to what Jesus said. Bad theology is destroying God’s people.

Read the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel.

In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 10, it is stated “Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven.6 He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. 7 When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”

Jesus’ shed blood on the cross did away with the curse of the law, which is death; not God’s law. We do not serve a lawless God. In fact, there are many times lawlessness people are discussed in the New Testament, and none of it good.

In summary, “The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First, he says: ‘This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezekiel 36:27).

Because of Christ, the high priest of the New Covenant, we can come into God’s presence: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:13).

What’s new about the new covenant is not that there are no commandments, but that God’s promise has come true! “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Shalom and with much love!